Justin Fields gets the short end of the stick from Chicago; Bears show QB no respect

Fields, the former Chicago Bears starting quarterback, displayed grace and class when he found out that he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional 2025 draft choice. While Fields showed humility and integrity, the Bears showed why they are constantly making a top ten selection in the draft every year.

Fields immediately took to social media to thank his supporters for the time that he spent in the Windy City. I guess he was talking to everyone with the exception of the brass in the Bears front office who made this ridiculous trade. The Bears get nothing in return, this season, for a serviceable starting quarterback, and they trade Fields to a team that he has no chance of starting for unless the starting quarterback gets injured.

The Steelers, who already signed Russell Wilson to start as their quarterback for at least one season, agreed to take on Justin Fields and his rookie contract in exchange for a sixth round pick. Should Fields earn certain playtime milestones, the pick could be elevated to a fourth round selection. The Steelers clearly won the trade as the Bears were desperate to get what they could for the former first-round selection.

The quarterback market was pretty much set when players like Mac Jones, Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ridder were traded and cast away like you would donate clothes to the Salvation Army. New England and Atlanta got late round picks for Jones and Ridder. Jones was a prior first-round selection out of Alabama, while Pickett was a first-round pick from Pittsburgh.

The yield for Fields only reaches the fourth-round nature if he plays in 51 percent oft he offensive plays for the Steelers this season. I do not foresee that happening and Wilson was already annointed as the next great Steelers quarterback.

Mike Tomlin has allegedly already informed Fields that he will be holding a clipboard and that Wilson is the de facto starter going into training camp and that there will be no open competition. Accordingly, barring injury, Fields, a proven starting quarterback in the NFL, was traded for a sixth-round selection in next year's draft.

The trade leaves Chicago, owners of the top pick in next month's NFL Draft, free to select the quarterback of their dreams, Caleb Williams from the University of Southern California. In my opinion, Williams is not much better than Fields and he is not even the best quarterback in this draft. That honor goes to Jayden Daniels of Louisiana State, who is coveted by both New England and the New York Giants, who select third and sixth respectively.

Williams, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 has not thrown a pass yet in the NFL and he is already a marked man. He will go down in Chicago's rich sports history as the guy that the Bears traded a proven commodity for, got very little in return, and did so in order to take Williams and give him no competition in training camp.

The Steelers, meanwhile, anointed Wilson as the starter immediately upon his agreeing to terms with the Steelers earlier this week. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin already told Fields that he will be the backup and barring injury or ineptitude, he will ride the pine.

The Steelers also traded last year's starter, Pickett, to his hometown team, the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2024 third-round pick and two seventh round picks next season. They did this so Wilson would not be looking over his shoulder after every throw. The Steelers are also sending their fourth round pick this season to the Eagles in what amounts to a pick swap.

Fields is allegedly excited about his new team and is happy to go to a place where he is wanted. Fields is no backup, however, he has grown as a player and has made tremendous strides since he was drafted out of Ohio State. He infused energy into the Bears offense the second half of last season and showed much progress, despite knowing that his days in Chi-Town were numbered and that Williams was in the rear-view mirror.

The Steelers definitely won this trade. They gave up very little, to get a proven starter, who can back up Wilson, and take over the reigns if Wilson does not sign an extension during the season or leaves via free agency after this season. Chicago, on the other hand, does what Chicago usually does in trades, they got hosed.

At the NFL Scouting Combine two weeks ago, in Indianapolis, Bears general manager Ryan Poles addressed the idea of trading Fields for the first time. Poles said that he did not want Fields to live in limbo and hoped to "do right" by Fields as the Bears decided on their long term plans at the quarterback position.

Poles said that again on Saturday in a statement confirming the trade.

"We have engaged in multiple trade conversations in recent weeks and believe trading Justin at this time to Pittsburgh is what is best for both Justin and the Bears, Poles said. Today we spoke to Justin to inform him of the trade and the rationale behind it for us as a club. We want to thank him for his tireless dedication, leadership and all he poured into our franchise and community the last three years and wish him the best towards a long and successful NFL career."

- Bears general manager Ryan Poles

The three-year book on Fields closes in Chicago where the Bears finished the season in 2023 at 7-10. He made 38 career starts for the Bears and completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 40 touchdowns,

They earned a top ten pick of their own due to their futility. Therefore, the Bears have the first pick that they got through a trade with Carolina and their own pick at nine, based upon their lack of on field accomplishments,

Fields cannot be blamed for the poor season, however, as he was out for four weeks after dislocating his right thumb. His replacements could not muster enough offense to be competitive. Fields still finished with a career best 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He showed improvement by making better ball control decisions and took less sacks.

Williams is going to come in and act like the prima donna or Diva that we said he was at the Combine and he is destined to fail. It is just the Chicago way. Chicago takes a proven NFL starting quarterback and trades him for a garbage pick, just so they can take Williams with the first pick in the draft and start a let the rookie learn by just tossing him into the fire.

Williams will fail in Chicago, a city rich in sports history, for the simple fact that he has no time to be groomed and no one on the roster, at his position to look up to. This will go down as a trade that the Bears will live to regret and they owe Fields an apology for putting him through this misery. When the season is over, and the first book on Williams closes, time will prove that this could go down as the worst trade in NFL history.